How Pacers use Myles Turner, Domantas Sabonis will depend on bigs' offseason development

Kevin Pritchard and Nate McMillan talk about the Pacers two days after a game seven loss to Cleveland in the NBA's first round, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Tuesday, May 1, 2018. (Robert Scheer/IndyStar)
(Robert Scheer/IndyStar)

INDIANAPOLIS – The combination of Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis isn’t an either-or proposition for the Indiana Pacers going forward, or so it seems. It’s both.

Will it be good enough, however, to get them to the next level next season?

“You have two young bigs. One should be a junior (in college), one should be a senior. Maybe we get a little too critical of those guys. They’re still so young,” team president Kevin Pritchard said. “We picked the high side. The ceiling for those two guys (is) extremely high. They can complement each other. We think they can play some together.”

Turner starts at center and Sabonis backs him up, but they play different styles and, in theory, should be able to play together.

While Turner, who averaged 12.7 points and 6.4 rebounds during the regular season, prefers to shoot jumpers and 3-pointers off of ball screens, Sabonis tends to roll toward the basket more often or settle in the mid-range.

Sabonis, who averaged 11.6 points and 7.7 rebounds in the regular season, is the more physical of the two and had the better postseason vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers. Going mostly uncovered, Sabonis went from averaging 5.6 points in the first three games of the series to 17.5 points in the last four.

Turner averaged 14 points and 7.6 rebounds in the first three against Cleveland but wilted to 11.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in the last four games.

"That's a good thing to have with two young centers with the potential. We'll figure out how to get their minutes on the floor," coach Nate McMillan said. "I don't see a problem with that at all. ... That's another option for us."

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Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo (4) holds his arms up toward the crowd that chanted "MVP" several times through the game, as overtime action winds down between the Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets at Banker's Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2017. The Pacers won in overtime, 123-119.
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Lance Stephenson of Indiana yells and fires up the crowd after his play forced a Denver turnover as Gary Harris watches, Denver Nuggets at Indiana Pacers, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017. Indiana won 126-116 in overtime.
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Indiana Pacers guard Lance Stephenson (1) celebrates hitting a three point shot in the second half of their game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Friday, Nov 17, 2017. The Indiana Pacers defeated the Detroit Pistons 107-100.
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Indiana Pacers guard Darren Collison (2) looks for a way to steal the ball from Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jose Calderon (81) during the first half of Game 6 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Friday, April 27, 2018.
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The Indiana Pacers celebrates a three-point shot made by Victor Oladipo in the second half of their game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Friday, Nov 17, 2017. The Indiana Pacers defeated the Detroit Pistons 107-100.
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Pacemate Leslie Ann L. watches an upside-down Boomer dance during a timeout in the second half of their game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse Tuesday, December 18, 2017. The Boston Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers 112-111.
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Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo (4) celebrates with Bojan Bogdanovic (44) in the in the fourth quarter of game #3 of their NBA Eastern Conference playoff game on Friday April 20, 2018. The Indiana Pacers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 92-90.
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Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts to fouling Indiana Pacers guard Lance Stephenson (1) during the second half of Game 6 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Friday, April 27, 2018.
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Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo (4) is fouled as he shoots around Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) in the second half of their game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse Tuesday, December 18, 2017. The Boston Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers 112-111.
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Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) calls timeout after a brief ball scramble with Indiana Pacers Myles Turner (33) and Thaddeus Young (21) during the second half of Game 4 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Sunday, April 22, 2018. The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Indiana Pacers 104-100.
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Digging deeper into the data, there is much to be determined about Turner and Sabonis playing simultaneously:

>> When Turner is in with the starters, the Pacers averaged 109.8 points per 100 possessions in the regular season. It's only a slight difference when Sabonis took the floor with Darren Collison, Victor Oladipo, Bojan Bogdanovic and Thaddeus Young (109.0). The Pacers allow 107.7 points with Turner. That drops to 100.5 with Sabonis in his place.

>> In the playoffs, there was a shift in those seven games vs. a dominant LeBron James. The starting five that included Turner had a 103.7 offensive rating while holding the Cavs to 90.2 per 100 possessions. That's in 129 minutes played. In 20 minutes played with the starters plus Sabonis, the offense generated 104.4 but allowed 142.8.

>> Rebounding was a team weakness. The Pacers were just 22nd at 42.3 per game during the regular season. They were 19th in overall rebounding percentage (49.6). They dropped to 26th in defensive rebounding percentage (76.2), a problem that was more pronounced in the Game 7 loss when the Cavs' Tristan Thompson dominated. Sabonis grabbed 25.6 percent of defensive rebounds and 10.6 percent of offensive ones. Turner wasn't as good at 19.2 percent of defensive rebounds and 5.8 of offensive rebounds.

>> With Young on the bench, McMillan used the Turner-Sabonis combo with his other starters in just eight games during the regular season for an average of 2.3 minutes. It happened just three times in the playoffs for 1.2 minutes. There's not enough relevant information to draw any conclusions.

>> When Trevor Booker was acquired late in the season, that allowed the Pacers to used Sabonis more as the spread option as the center. If Booker, a non-shooting power forward, returns (or someone similar arrives) does this continue?

As much of the offseason is focused on whether Young exercises his option to return or opts out to renegotiate a longer deal, or if Oladipo can build on his All-Star credentials, figuring out the 22-year-old bigs is a major question that needs to be answered.

"They're different in how they play," McMillan said. "Part of it this season was allowing those guys to spend some time on the floor and possibly developing into a spread player at the 4 or the 5 depending on who was guarding who."

Ideally for the Pacers, Sabonis develops better 3-point range while Turner gets stronger and more comfortable playing closer to the rim.

That adaptability is the key to not just their individual success, but the team's.